Club History

Holyhead is a town with a rich footballing tradition, from Holyhead F.C. in the late 1800’s and in the early 1900’s being represented by teams as diverse as Holyhead Liberals and Holyhead Locos. Holyhead’s ‘purple patch’ was in the 1950’s and 1960’s when the famous Harbourmen rode high on the stage of North Wales football from their base at Cae Mwd on Turkeyshore Road. In the 70’s and 80’s Holyhead was represented by Mountain Rangers and Holyhead United Juniors who secured Welsh League status.

Cup celebration Holyhead Hotspur F.C. was founded in 1990, when several prominent people involved in local football formed the Club. At the time of its formation there were four other local Clubs in the town operating in different leagues of the North Wales Coast Football Association.

By 1997, with the success of Hotspur, all the Clubs amalgamated and Holyhead Hotspur F.C. became the modern day successor to the ‘Harbourmen’ of years ago, and formed a senior team and a reserve team and Youth teams called Holyhead Hotspur Peibio in recognition of their past association with Peibio and the great work done by many people over the years in fostering youth football at Peibio. In 2009 ‘Clwb Cybi’ a special needs team joined us and this underlines the Club’s desire to be an ‘all inclusive football club’ within our community.

The Club has enjoyed much success over the years. In successive seasons 1995/6, 1996/7, 1997/8 winning the Anglesey League, Gwynedd League and Welsh Alliance League Championships, and this was the focus which resulted in the amalgamation of all the Holyhead Clubs at that time. The season 1998/9 saw the reserve team promoted to the Gwynedd League and the senior team promoted to the Huws Gray Alliance League. The Huws Gray Alliance League is North Wales and Mid Wales’s feeder league to the Welsh Premier League.

The senior side had over a period of time consolidated its position in the Huws Gray Alliance League, and the reserves had likewise done so in the Gwynedd League, culminating in both teams finishing runners – up in their respective leagues, their highest ever final league positions at the end of the 2008/2009 campaign, as well as the first team finishing as losing finalists in the Huws Gray Alliance league cup. This occurred twice each time losing out to Bala Town FC in the final.

However despite a more than creditable 8th position in season 2009/10 after a very poor start, the Club was relegated to the Welsh Alliance Division 1. This was because the Welsh Premier League decided to reduce its membership for season 2010/11 from eighteen to twelve teams.

This was a great disappointment to us, and we had to strive to gain our rightful place in the Huws Gray Alliance League (which is tier 2 of Welsh Football) which we did as League champions in the season 2011/12, also winning both the Cookson and Barritt Cup competitions and were losing finalists in the Football Association of Wales Welsh Trophy competition.

This coming season the Huws Gray Alliance league will be even more competitive with both Bangor City and Prestatyn Town joining us as both were relegated from the Welsh Premier League.

The reserves will play this season play in the Anglesey league, after the decision was made to focus on bringing through our Under 16s and Under 18s, hopefully preparing them for becoming first team regulars in the future